It’s 14 years since the Blues last tasted victory across Stanley Park and David Moyes hasn’t won any of his 11 previous visits to Anfield. The Reds are unbeaten in the past five meetings between the clubs and the winger says Brendan Rodgers’ side are determined to extend that run.

“The fact that they haven’t won at Anfield for so long has to play on their minds,” said Downing.

“I am sure David Moyes will get right amongst them. He must be desperate to beat Liverpool.

“But we don’t want that record to end. We did really well against Everton in the three games last season and we would have won at Goodison earlier this season but for Luis Suarez’s goal being wrongly disallowed.

“We have to be ready and make sure we start well. It will be a good test for us and it will be tight with battles all over the pitch, but we’re confident we can get another win.”

In the absence of Luis Suarez, derby debutant Daniel Sturridge will lead the line for Liverpool. Downing is hoping the £12million striker carries on where he left off in last weekend’s 6-0 thrashing of Newcastle United.

“If Daniel keeps playing like that we’ll all be happy,” he said.“His pace and power are a nightmare for defenders to play against and he gives the rest of us more space to play.

“Last week after all the controversy, people were asking can we play without Luis? Who is going to score the goals? To win 6-0 was the perfect response. We defended really well and looked like scoring every time we attacked.

“Of course we miss Luis because he’s such a good player but we have others who can come in and do a job for us.

“Daniel is a confident lad. He wouldn’t have thought ‘now Luis is out, the pressure is on me’. He was bought for situations like this and has certainly got the ability.”